Doha: Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar, in partnership with Qatar Science and Technology Park, Qatar Foundation and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, recently held a lecture on the challege of rebuilding Gaza.
The lecture was given by Dr Abdul Kareem Jouda, Chief Special Environmental Health Programme and Acting Field Engineering and Construction Services Officer for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).
The lecture came as part of a three-day workshop to develop specific design and technology-based solutions in support of human, economic and social development in the Gaza Strip.
Dr Jouda addressed the current situation in Gaza Strip, one year following the December 2008-January 2009 Israeli war and after more than three years of siege.
He elaborated on the major challenges in providing basic humanitarian needs, fostering education and supporting community development.
Dr Jouda also discussed the role of UNRWA in Gaza, which is serving one million Palestinian refugees of the 1.5 million residents of Gaza providing them with basic health, education and relief services.
Dr Jouda described the deteriorating situation in Gaza Strip, where food is no longer considered part of the daily life routine, the economy is starving and 80 per cent of the Palestinians remain unemployed and education is considered a luxury.
"The banking system is not working; for those who still do receive salaries it must be done through a special arrangement, which is not through the bank," Dr Jouda explained.
"The education system has sustained great damages. Thirty-six UNRWA schools were diminished and 49 school buildings are used as temporary shelters," he added.
For the third year an Israeli blockade has been imposed on Gaza Strip.
"The siege which is prohibiting construction material from entering to Gaza Strip, is keeping our hands tight and not allowing us to rebuild, improve and recover all the health centres, schools, homes, ministries, public buildings, transportation, water and infrastructure, that were damaged by the Israeli offensive," explained Dr Jouda.
"Our main problem is not financial, the Palestinians can manage, as they have always done, our problem is the siege; by keeping the siege the situation will only get worse," he said.
"The brutal blockade on Gaza Strip needs to be lifted, I urge all the international communities and the Arabs to call on Israel to lift the siege, and inject liquidity into Gaza strip. Moreover, I ask our neighbouring country, Egypt to help us more by permanently opening the Rafah border," Dr Jouda told Gulf News.
"What is happening now is only a pain killer, what is really needed is a permanent solution to the current situation in Gaza," he said.
"Containing the humanitarian crisis is only the first step on a long road to rebuilding the shattered lives of Gaza’s residents," said Dr Jouda. "Rubble and unexploded ordinance can be cleared, land decontaminated and homes and mosques reconstructed, but the human cost of the crisis will be felt for generations," he added.
